The end of 2010 is close and it looks like AT&T is beefing up its device portfolio and app offerings for a day when it isn’t the only U.S. operator offering the Apple iPhone. Earlier this week, the nation’s second largest wireless operator launched the first Microsoft Windows Phone 7 phones, and it also added …

Geeks will always tell you to get the latest and greatest product on the market, but sometimes choosing a previous generation product will satisfy your needs without breaking the bank. In this week’s column I answer a question from a reader who needs a new iPhone and can’t decide whether to get the older-generation iPhone 3GS or the iPhone 4. …

There’s been a lot of talk about people canceling their cable TV subscription to stream video on their TVs over the Net, but consumer research firm Nielsen says the number of people actually doing it is still very small. Cheryl Idell, an executive vice president at Nielsen, told the blog PaidContent earlier this week that many people may be talking …

Satellite broadband service has long been the choice of last resort for many consumers. It’s slow, expensive, and capacity is limited. But in the first half of 2012, that could change. Hughes Network Systems, one of the largest satellite broadband service providers in the world, will launch the Jupiter satellite, which will offer more than 100 gigabits per second of …

Earlier this week, T-Mobile USA, the fourth largest cell phone operator in the U.S., launched a marketing campaign calling its newly upgraded network “America’s Largest 4G Network.” The claim has ruffled more than a few feathers at T-Mobile competitors, namely Sprint Nextel, which has been helping its partner Clearwire build a nationwide network using a technology called WiMax that it …

A mobile phone bill may be one of the most confusing documents for a consumer to understand. With all the different federal, state, and local taxes tacked on at the end of your monthly bill, it’s difficult to know what exactly you’re paying for. And now wireless subscribers who hold onto their old phone numbers when they relocate around the …

Time Warner Cable saw bigger profits on increased revenue during the third quarter of 2010 even as it lost TV subscribers. The second largest cable operator in the U.S. reported a 34 percent jump in profits for the three-month period. Earnings increased to $360 million, or $1 a share, up from $268 million, or 76 cents a share, during the …

Remember the National Broadband Plan? Blair Levin, former executive director of the National Broadband Plan, a report that was presented to Congress in March and was supposed to serve as a blueprint for policymakers to bring ubiquitous access for broadband to all Americans, does. Blair Levin, the former executive director of the National Broadband Plan. FCC Levin, who had served …

Americans, little by little, are cutting the proverbial cord on cable television. But that doesn’t mean they’re breaking up with their cable companies. In addition to controlling most of the paid TV market in the U.S., cable companies are also poised to dominate the broadband market. This means that even when people drop their pricey cable TV packages, they’re still …

Smartphone manufacturers, Google, and wireless operators may think they’re doing consumers a favor by preinstalling or bundling apps into the Android OS on their new smartphones, but some wireless subscribers would rather they didn’t. In this week’s Ask Maggie column, I help a reader figure out the best way to disable applications that come bundled with Android phones and OS …